Rabbit, Run Is an Exhortation Oft Heard in England Now

She was the fastest rabbit in town, taking just 11 seconds to jump all the hurdles in the round. Cherie, a 2-year-old Swedish bunny, left the competition in the dust at the U.K.'s Rabbit Grand National, held in the dignified Yorkshire town of Harrogate in late January.

The lop-eared speed demon, who also won the competition last year, elicited gasps from the audience as she jumped hurdles close to 28 inches high. But she faced no competition from upstart locals. While the British bunnies were invited to "showcase" their skills, they didn't compete in the main event because the organizers felt the Swedes were in a league of their own. "It's like the English Premier League versus L.A. Galaxy," says Jason Madeley, one of the promoters of the event, finding a soccer analogy.

See the bunnies of Britain compete with champion Swedish jumping rabbits. Javier Espinoza reports from the Rabbit Grand National in Harrogate, England.

"It's really new in England and they can't jump as high as we can," says 24-year-old nursery-school teacher Magdalena Åhsblom, owner of the champion. "I don't think they can compete against us yet."

The competition is run along the lines of an equine show-jumping contest. The rabbits enter the ring one by one and try to jump every obstacle with as few mishaps as possible. Each time a rabbit knocks over or dislodges a bar on a hurdle, it gets a time penalty. Also frowned upon are a crooked liftoff, crawling between the bars and, for the trainers, walking ahead of the rabbit, jerking its leash or lifting it over the jump. The fastest rabbit wins.

Local bunny jumpers are well aware of their limitations. After all, most of the British owners—exclusively female—are still at school and train their rabbits in their spare time. "We are only 15 or 16 and we are doing it as a hobby. But we hope it gets bigger here," says 16-year-old Charlotte McLatchey, as she clutched her brown-and-white Dutch rabbit, Russell. Female rabbits compete along with males.

Rabbit Jumping Reaches for New Heights

She is full of admiration for the visitors. "The Swedes are amazing. They have done it more and have better facilities," says Ms. McLatchey, who keeps her four rabbits in a hutch in the back garden. She is keen to emulate the Swedes' success. "I started training Russell when he was 10 weeks old. I put him in a harness and started playing with him so he would associate wearing the harness with having fun."

"After a small jump, I would give him a stroke or give him a treat like a bit of cabbage or carrot, which he loves," she says. On a good day, she says, Russell can now jump up to 50 centimeters, or about 20 inches. But today, he has stopped at one of the jumps and doesn't seem interested in moving.

"Bunny jumping in the U.K. looks like when it started in Sweden," says Mathilda Hedlund, who has been training rabbits for 13 years and whose bunny, Dilba, has taken part in major international competitions.

But there are some promising rabbits rising through the British ranks. Nicole Barratt, owner of Rukia, says her rabbit is catching up. "We are hoping he will jump higher, but we can't push him," she says.

The odds were always going to favor the Swedes; after all, the sport originated in the small southern town of Varalov in the 1970s, and Swedes have been breeding show-jumping rabbits since the 1980s. Today, close to 1,000 active bunny jumpers can find at least one competition somewhere in the country most weekends, and there are two national championships a year. The U.K., on the other hand, hosts just a handful of competitions a year and is home to only about 10 rabbit jumpers.

In Sweden, where the fluffy competitors train for up to two hours a day, there is an established network of breeders who are always looking for talent. "Our bunnies are so used to competing, so they know what to do," Ms. Hedlund says.

Choosing the right breed of rabbit is also important. Sweden's 200 or so breeders are experimenting widely, and charge more—up to 1,500 kronor ($225)—for a rabbit with prizewinning parentage.

"You want mini lop for the cool and positive attitude and hare for the bigger size and long back legs," Ms. Hedlund says. "But you don't want too much temperament; you'd want a mix of a cool and a competitive attitude."

Years ago, the Swedish sport consisted mostly of kids and teenagers jumping pets in their backyards. But owners soon organized local clubs that arranged competitions using small, homemade hurdles. In 1994, these clubs—about 20 nationwide today—were affiliated under the Swedish Rabbit Jumping Federation, a move that allowed them to organize at a national level and establish common rules. The federation even trains its judges. The sport also has a small following in other Nordic countries, the U.S., Germany and France. In the U.K., there is just one, recently formed club.

Bunny-jumping enthusiasts say it is good for the rabbits. A domestic rabbit that is allowed to exercise can live 10 or 12 years, compared with five years at most if kept in a cage, says Lisbeth Jansson, who has written two books on rabbit jumping and, with her husband, Lars, runs Libra Arctic, the world's only professional maker of rabbit jumps.

"These bunnies develop psyche, heart, lungs and muscles, so they live longer and the vets have more to do," she says. "Some [owners] even take out life insurance on renowned jumping rabbits."

At Agria Djurförsäkring, one of Sweden's biggest pet insurers, the number of rabbit insurance policies—the majority of which are intended to cover veterinary bills—has soared.

Trainers say Libra Arctic's tailor-made jumps, which range in price from 500 to 5,000 kronor, have set the standard for the sport. This year, the Harrogate organizers spent about 10,000 kronor on a complete set of jumps to pimp up the Rabbit Grand National. "You could say we own this market," Ms. Jansson says.

Despite their dominance of the sport, Swedish bunnies are bested by their Danish neighbors when it comes to world records. In 1999, a Danish rabbit called Yaboo set the world long-jump record when he flew over a three-meter, or nearly 10-feet, hurdle, while his compatriot Tösen bounced 99.5 centimeter, or about 40 inches, to nab the high-jump record in 1997.

So, how will the British bunnies fare in future? Ms. Hedlund, the owner of Swedish veteran Dilba, says she was disappointed the Brits couldn't compete against the Swedes this year. "It would be really fun if they started breeding proper rabbits, too. But they are getting better and better with more training."

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